


Battle Scars

by RandomWordsAndStormyDays



Series: Better Together [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Pre-Relationship, spoilers for Maccready's backstory, spoilers for Maccready's quests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-21 16:28:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18706054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomWordsAndStormyDays/pseuds/RandomWordsAndStormyDays
Summary: The Sole Survivor is angry and her favorite way to blow off some steam is to kill something. Maccready tags along and finds himself falling into the past when a nest of ferals is their target.Will he be quick enough to save the Boss or will he find himself losing her, too?





	Battle Scars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bookwitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwitch/gifts).



> [A fan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwitch/pseuds/Bookwitch) of one of my [other works](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18109946) left me a wonderful comment about her adventures with Maccready and gave me permission to do with her experience what I wanted to. So, I did just that.
> 
> Title is from the song Battle Scars by Lupe Fiasco and Guy Sebastian.
> 
> Bookwitch, I hope you enjoy, and I also hope that I write Maccready well enough for you <3
> 
> Also! This is chock full of spoilers for Maccready's backstory and companion quests, so please don't read if you want to avoid those!

The Boss is angry.

That much is clear by the tightness of her jaw, the drawn up nature of her shoulders, and the way she speaks to him in clipped sentences. It’s obvious by the way she doesn’t bother to check the streets in her scope first before taking off down them. Her usually quiet and light footsteps are loud and heavy, and she doesn’t once check that he’s behind her- like she’ll go off on her own if he falls behind.

Maccready has only seen her like this once before. Her and Preston had gotten into some kind of argument. He hadn’t gotten the details, but all of Sanctuary was able to hear them scream at each other. It had been a shock, the two of them were usually pretty level headed when it came to things that they didn’t quite agree on, but something was different that night.

When the Boss had finally stormed away from the conversation she had taken him to Corvega Assembly and they took out a whole group of raiders. It had been hauntingly beautiful the way she had taken them out. Even in her anger fueled haze she was efficient, quick, and accurate. The raiders, who were either asleep, drugged up, or taken by surprise, hadn’t stood a chance against her. Maccready hadn’t had to protect her at all that day, but she paid him just the same.

He’s learned that the Boss blows off steam easiest when she kills something. And today, they’re heading East.

It’s an hour into their travels when he finally asks where they’re going. Boss doesn’t answer right away, but he sees her cheek twitch, the frown aborted before it can fully form on her face. He doesn’t ask her questions often. Their arrangement of ‘you point, I’ll shoot’ has worked just fine for him over the last two months and he doesn’t want to upset their balance by making her believe that he doubts her. But he’s curious

“National Guard Training Yard. There’s a settlement South of it that’s been having trouble and they asked me to take care of it last week. I was too busy helping Abernathy recover from that Gunner attack so I’m taking care of it now.”

It was was more information than he had asked for, and he takes the hint to stop talking. Usually on runs Boss is talkative. They discuss what life was like pre-war, talk about the benefits of a long range weapon versus a short ranged one, or argue over who is better, the Silver Shroud or Grognok. Obviously, he’s partial to the Barbarian, but she has always been more persuasive than him and by the end of their conversations he almost always winds up agreeing with her, until the next time.

When she’s in a mood, however, talking is off the table.

He spends the rest of the walk making sure that nothing sneaks up on them while she’s distracted by her emotions. It isn’t until he sees the ferals lingering outside their destination that he begins to get nervous. Where there’s one feral, there’s usually a dozen.

He loses himself.

_ Duncan is crying hard enough that he occasionally he stops breathing. Maccready and Lucy both know that the sounds are enough to draw all sorts of nasty things towards them, and the beginnings of a rad-storm are starting to form, so it’s a relief when they see the metro entrance. There isn’t any security so they know that it’s not a Triggerman base and that knowledge is enough to get them to head inside. _

_ Lucy looks tired. Her eyes are half-lidden and she’s got dark circles under them. They haven’t slept very well since Duncan was born and the sleepless nights are catching up to her. _

_ “Why don’t you try and rest, Luc. I’ll take Duncan.” She looks like she wants to argue but the call of sleep proves too strong for her to resist. _

_ “Okay, but wake me if he gets hungry. Don’t let him suffer because I’m tired.” He presses a gentle kiss to her cheek as he slides the screaming bundle of baby from her arms. _

_ “I promise, now go. I’ll wake you when I’ve made food.” Her smile is bright and she reaches up to card a hand through his hair. She tugs once and he laughs before leaning back over to slot their lips together. _

_ “Goodnight, Bobby. I love you.” _

_ Warmth blooms in his chest. “I love you, too.” _

She either doesn’t notice his hesitation or isn’t worried because she raises her pistol to drop the to closest feral to her, not caring that the noise will draw the attention of the others. The sound brings him back.

His hands, which are normally steady and dry against the holds of his gun, are trembling and damp. He knows that the Boss can take care of herself, that even in situations where she should have died a dozen times over, she hasn’t. He knows that she always comes out on top, no matter what they face together. That doesn’t stop the anxiety from creeping across his chest and squeezing at his heart.

The ferals are dead and the Boss has already begun to loot their bodies by the time he manages to raise his rifle to help her clear the front yard. He berates himself. She’s going to stop bringing him along if he doesn’t get his act together, and if that happens he can kiss the steady stream of caps that he’s gotten used to goodbye.

He re-focuses his attention and with a quick pull of his trigger takes down the turrets on the roof. She looks back at him and smiles, quick and small, and he can already see that some of her anger has begun to dim from the fighting.

Anxiety is still rolling around in his chest and in his gut by the time they finally enter the building. His sniper is shit when they’re in close quarters like this so he begrudgingly puts away his rifle so that he can pull out the modded 10mm Boss gave him. It’s a nice piece, but it doesn’t carry the same sense of safety as his preferred weapon. He feels his heart rate tick up a few notches when he sees that the interior is also littered with ferals.

One of the things Maccready hates the most about fighting ferals is that they lay so still on the floor that it’s nearly impossible to tell if one is alive or not. He’s seen more than one person trip over a feral they thought was dead, but was really just laying down. From his count there’s four in the main foyer and an unknown amount around the corner. His hold on his pistol tightens and he forces himself to steady his breathing.

Even with his nerves shot and frayed he manages to help the Boss clear out the first floor. She’s just as efficient as usual, and more than makes up for his lack of concentration, but he’s proud to say that after the first feral drops because of his bullet he finds that his confidence starts to return. By the time she’s hacking into a terminal to get to the next section of the building he’s no longer worried that the ferals are going to take her from him.

Wait, what?

Maccready shakes his head and takes a step back from the Boss. When did he start thinking about her as his? When did she stop becoming a way for him to get caps and start becoming a genuine friend? He’s not sure.

He glances over to watch as she tries to unlock the secrets that the terminal might keep. Her face is awash in concentration and her head is ticked to the side. Her gaze is focused and her hands fly across the keys, faster than he’s ever seen before.

It hits him that he would be upset if she got hurt or died, not because she was his responsibility, but because he cared about her. Maybe it had started after she helped him take out Winlock and Barnes. No one had ever been so quick to help him before, not without first asking for a fat stack of caps in exchange. Even after the fight, when the Gunner outpost was destroyed and he was thanking her for her help, she didn’t ask for anything from him in return. He gave her back the caps from the night she hired him, anyways, his way of trying to make things even, but it didn’t feel like enough.

Maybe it was after that, when he had accidentally let it slip that Lucy was gone. He could easily recall the shock on her face and the way it had faded to concern and understanding. He didn’t go into details about how he had lost her, and she had never pressed him to tell her. She’s respectful like that. Always open to talk forever about all his life’s problems, but never pushes him to share more than he’s willing to. It makes it easy to talk to her without fear of judgment or reprimand. She accepts people for who they are and always sees the best in the people around her.

She’s not just his Boss, she’s his friend. Maybe the only true friend he has.

The last person to treat him this way was his late wife. The memory comes without warning.

_ Duncan calms easy enough when Maccready tucks him against his chest. It’s a relief because he knows that Lucy won’t actually sleep if she can hear his cries. _

_ He sets up his pack so that he can lean against it while he takes watch. The tunnel is dark aside from their small campfire, but Maccready doesn’t need much light. He can see Lucy where she’s laying next to the fire, using its warmth to make sleep easier, and he can see Duncan. The shadows from the twisting flames dance over his son’s face and he wonders how something so beautiful, so precious, could come from him. _

_ With Duncan cooing softly in his arms like a lullaby he can’t seem to keep his eyes open. Sleep comes for him, welcoming him like a long lost lover, and Maccready gives in. _

“Hell yeah.” Her whisper of success and the ring from the terminal draw his attention back to her and suddenly he’s seeing her in a new light. She looks more vibrant, more full of life, more precious than ever before. She’s beautiful. Not just in looks but in her personality and the way she carries herself. He’s so distracted by his new observations that he misses his chance to follow her through the now open door.

It slides shut with a loud bang and he startles when he hears the lock click back into place. The Boss whips around and meets his eye through the mess wire of the security door. His eyes drop to where the handle should be and the realization that there is no handle settles in his gut like a heavy rock. He can’t even read, how is he going to hack into the terminal?

“Mac?” His gaze jerks up to meet hers and something in him settles when the nervousness he feels isn’t reflected on her face. “The password is ‘unstoppable’, just enter it into the terminal and let’s get a move on.”

Suddenly, the floors looks really interesting and he drops his eyes down to stare at it. He swallows as he tries to think of the best way to tell her that he literally cannot do that.

“Do you know how to spell that?” Her question doesn’t have a judgmental tone and when he risks a glance to her face it doesn’t seem like she’s about to call him an idiot. He can’t seem to find his voice so he shakes his head. Her face softens and she offers him a smile. “That’s fine. Just boot up the terminal and I’ll spell it for you.”

Words are easy, but he can’t grasp the right ones. The ones that will build the perfect sentence that conveys to her that he can’t spell that word, can’t even spell his own name, but also tells her that he’s not stupid, that he’s not an idiot. Her pre-war education was extensive, she even went to school after it was mandatory, just so she could learn more. His post-war education was almost entirely comprised of weapons maintenance and survival skills. She makes him feel stupid sometimes, but never once has she ever treated him like he was. Would that change once she found out he was illiterate?

“The first letter is ‘u’.” Her words are calm and his hands hesitate on the keys. What does a ‘u’ look like? There are three whole lines of letters and he knows that there are 26 options, Lucy taught him that much, but that’s too many to just guess. He does anyways.

The terminal lets out a shrill sound, signally his failure, and he jerks back. He glances over t the Boss and she seems confused. He looks at the terminal and the cursor blinks back at him, a steady and pounding rhythm, just like his heartbeat. Before she can ask him anything he determines that his pride isn’t worth this awkward game. “Boss, I can’t read.”

Silence is the response he gets and he closes his eyes as shame creeps up his neck and across his cheeks, leaving a deep red blush in its place. He wants to fade into nothingness, disappear, run away. He doesn’t do any of those things, however, he justs continues to view the inside of his eyelids and the blackness that they provide.

“That’s okay, Mac, I can walk you through it.”

He lets out a laugh, “you’re going to teach me how to read right now?”

He hears but doesn’t see the amusement in her voice when she replies. “No, but I know a keyboard layout- just click the buttons I tell you to, okay?” He lets out a sigh and peels his eyes open. Entering the password no longer feels like an impossible task.

“Okay, Boss, what do I hit?”

“Top row, seventh key in. The letter looks like a round bucket without a top.” He sees the shape of the letter, doesn’t even have to count the keys. When he clicks it the terminal beeps happily. “Next one is ‘n’. Third row, sixth key. The first key in that line is ‘z’, and ‘n’ looks like a sideways ‘z’.

He studies the first key and then finds the one that’s closest to it. The happy beep that sounds when he types the ‘n’ sends pride through him.

They’re almost through the word when she cuts off a sentence mid-way to whip around. He glances through the window of the door and feels his heart lodge in his throat. He doesn’t know how, but there’s six ferals standing at the end of the hallway she’s in. She curses and their heads whip up simultaneously. None of them move right away, but once the front ferals snarls and takes a lunging step forward they all become agitated.

Boss drops the one in front the blink of an eye, but when the ferals register the sound of the gunshot and their now dead friend, they rush her. With nowhere to go they surround her easily. She meets his eye, determination has filled her face and she doesn’t look scared. Over the screams he can hear her shouting.

“Three left. B, l, and e. You can do this Mac.” He isn’t given a chance to respond because then the ferals are on her. They’re too close for her pistol to actually hit her targets and suddenly he’s back in that Metro tunnel.

_ He wakes to a scream. His eyes open and he’s on his feet in less than a second. The sight he sees kills him. _

_ Lucy is fighting off a feral. Its teeth are clamped into her shoulder and its claws are scratching at her face. He reaches for the pistol at his side and stalks forward. He uses one heavy boot to kick the creature in the face and its head jerks back, tearing a chunk of his wife’s shoulder with it. Before it can recover he shoots it in the head. _

_ Duncan begins to cry as soon as the gun goes off and from just outside his field of vision he can hear the echoing cry of an unknown amount of ferals. _

_ Keeping his son cradled against him as best he can he reaches down to help Lucy to her feet. “C’mon, Luc, I know it hurts but we have to go.” She’s trembling, most likely from radiation. A feral bite is full of that stuff and she’s going to need some radaway soon. _

_ “Bobby, I can’t.” Her voice wavers and the sound causes tears to form. _

_ “Yes, you can. Don’t give up on me.” _

_ He’s not the strongest man in the world, but adrenaline is a hell of a thing and he manages to get her onto her feet. He can hear the ferals getting closer and Lucy can hardly hold herself up. They’re not going to make it. _

_ Just as that thought crosses his mind they’re knocked to the ground. He rolls onto his side before he can crush Duncan underneath him, and the boy screams out at the jostling sensation. He scans the area for Lucy and feels dizzy when he finally finds her. _

_ She’s too weak to even fight back as the feral rips into her. Her screams fill the air, drowning out her own child’s cries. He’s frozen. He doesn’t know what to do. _

_ Lucy rolls her head to the side to look at him. “Go!” She screams. “Get out!” _

_ His feet stay firmly placed where they are. _

_ “Bobby, go!” The desperation is clear and his body finally gets the message. _

_ The storm has cleared and the sun is shining high in the sky when he makes it back onto the street. Duncan is bawling in his arms, not at all aware that his mother is gone, that she’ll never hold him again, that she’ll never kiss him, sing to him, dance with him, tell him that she loves- _

_ Maccready stumbles to his knees but doesn’t drop his son. While Duncan tears are accompanied by loud screaming, his are silent as they pour down his face. _

“Fuck you!”

Once more the Boss pulls him from his memories and he’s terrified to look at her. He does anyways, because he clearly hates himself. The sight that greets him is a bloodbath, but a good one.

Sometime during his flashbacks the Boss had dropped her pistol and pulled out a knife. Maccready had never seen it before, but it’s sleek, black, and looks wicked. She now wields that knife, fueled by anger and a desire to survive.

Three ferals are already dead and the remaining ones are injured. He can’t see the Boss well enough to catalog her injuries, but she’s still on her feet. And she looks like she’s having fun?

“C’mon you sons of bitches. You want a taste of my knife, come and get it.” The bravest of the ferals rushes forward and she swipes out, catching it in the neck. The blade doesn’t go deep enough to kill and the feral uses its momentum to it’s advantage. The duo falls to the ground and the other ferals rush forward to swarm her.

He can’t see her, the window on the door only goes halfway, but he can hear just fine. The ferals are growling loudly, she’s cursing up a storm, the knife is slashing, blood is spraying, but the loudest thing he can hear is his own pulse as it pounds in his ears.

Suddenly, he remembers the terminal. He tries to push the sounds of the fight from his mind. What letters had she said? He couldn’t remember. What was the password? Unstoppable.

Where did he know that word from? It takes him a second, but then he remembers. Unstoppable comics. He had to have seen them a hundred times, they were Lucy’s favorite. But he never read them. What did the word look like? He closes his eyes and tries to recall the cover. He only has to remember the last three letters.

He can see the artwork in his mind but the letters are fuzzy, he didn’t pay attention to them, they weren’t important then. They sure as hell were important now.

The comic forms in his mind’s eye slowly but eventually the word appears and relief washes over him. Once he has the letters he opens his eyes and frantically searched for them on the keyboard. The Boss screams out and Maccready hears a loud thump but he keeps his attention on the keys at his fingers. He clicks ‘b’ and the terminal chimes, he clicks ‘l’ and it beeps, he clicks ‘e’ and the door pops open.

He doesn’t even bother to relish the feeling of accomplishment before he rushes inside the next room. Boss is sitting on the ground, covered in blood and feral guts. The knife he had seen earlier is resting on the ground and she is using her filthy hand to cover part of a nasty looking feral bite.

She’s shaking, just like Lucy had, but she’s also smiling at him.

“Hey, Mac, I knew you could do it.” He drops down next to her and pulls out a bag of radaway. She isn’t mad that he hadn’t saved her, because she’s strong enough to save herself. She might just be the strongest person he’s ever met. There's a possibility that she's the only person in the world that he can trust to help him, and succeed in doing so. He has to ask her, now, before he loses his nerve.

“Hey, Boss, once we’ve got you all cleaned up, how would you feel about coming with me to a place called Med-Tek? I could use your help.”

She winces when he slides the needle into her arm but tilts her head up to look at him, eyes clear and bright.

“For you, I’d do anything.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a kudo, a comment, or come say hi to me on [Tumblr.](https://randomwordsandstormydays.tumblr.com/)


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